Yes, I know one of them is a movie and the other is a TV show. Thematically, though, the two properties are similar enough to warrant comparison: both stories are centered on laconic special forces types who are on the run after being betrayed by their superiors; the leading man has to rely on a small group of allies and their own set of deadly skills to murder their way up the hierarchy until they find those responsible for their quandary. You’ve seen this movie (or show) before, in one form or another.
The Gray Man
First up, this spelling of the word “grey” irritates me more than a burr in my scrotum. I don’t give a fuck what Merriam-Webster has to say. Those guys have been dead for years. Nomenclature notwithstanding, I had a good time with this one. Ryan Gosling’s portrayal of taciturn government agent Sierra Six incorporates just enough humor and heart to make him an engaging protagonist; one could easily see the character falling flat in the hands of another actor. The rest of the cast is fun, too; I won’t go through the entire list, but Chris Evans’ sociopathic hitman Lloyd Hansen is a twisted delight every time he’s onscreen, and Rege-Jean Page does a better job of making Harvard grads look bad than the Unabomber. Billy Bob Thornton is, well, Billy Bob Thornton, bringing his curmudgeonly charm and dry wit to a predictably fun performance. Almost makes you forget how he and Angelina Jolie used to carry around vials of each other’s blood. If they were lugging around bags of the stuff I could understand (no hemophilia-shaming here), but a vial? That’s not enough for an infusion! It’s just strange!
The Gray Man also sports set pieces that really make you feel the 200 million buckaroos Netflix shelled out to put it on screen. How, exactly, did Chris Evans’ character come into possession of a massive European chateau? Who cares – it’s there to explode, not make sense.
Not that every action scene looks like a Michael Bay fever dream – there are some lower-key fights that manage to engage by the simple virtue of being framed and shot well, with skillful use of color that, weirdly enough, somewhat reminded me of Ran.[1]
The end of the movie leaves enough plot threads dangling that they might as well have hung a giant “There Will Be a Sequel” sign on the credits. I’m interested to see where the story goes from here, although the deaths of several characters in this movie mean that the cast will have lost some major talent going forward.
The Terminal List
The first thing that comes to mind when I think of this series is that Chris Pratt looks haggard as fuck. I spent all eight episodes wishing the guy would take a god damn nap.
The show starts off with Pratt’s character James Reece, the no-nonsense leader of a Navy SEAL team, having a worse week than Charles Lindbergh did that one time he left the upstairs window open. A botched mission ends with nearly every member of his team dead, the only other survivor almost immediately commits suicide, Reece finds out he has a brain tumor, and his wife and daughter get murdered, all in the span of, like, two days. Makes me glad the guy didn’t have a dog, because it sure as shit would have gotten killed.
The only solution to Chris Pratt’s Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Week is a tremendous amount of gun violence (accompanied by the occasional disemboweling). Reece goes on the warpath and begins to unravel a sinister conspiracy, while an FBI agent and reporter separately investigate. Ultimately, though, the secondary characters’ painstaking inquiries aren’t anywhere near as effective as guns, an arsenal of which Pratt uses to blast his way through any and every problem he runs into.
Jai Courtney’s PMC executive makes for a good villain – too bad he’s unceremoniously killed off in, like, episode 5. This plays into a larger issue I have with the show – that Reece ultimately doesn’t face any foes he can’t take down with ease. I get that the guy is a Navy SEAL, so it’s not exactly unrealistic when he runs roughshod over enemy forces, but from a dramatic perspective it’s a little lacking. The rest of the cast turn in solid performances, especially Taylor Kitsch as a CIA agent whose style is straight out of Point Break, but the show leaves them with little to do except occasionally assist in Reece’s rampage and/or comment on how awesome he is.
The Terminal List isn’t a bad show, by any means, but its incessantly dour tone and Mary Sue (Manly Sue?) protagonist drag it down. I can’t help but feel like there were some missed opportunities here, with plot threads like Reece’s questionable memory left unresolved and a lack of compelling antagonists leaving his revenge feeling oddly empty.
The Verdict
The Gray Man and The Terminal List are both good, but not great; they’re worth a watch if you like the subject matter, but unlikely to become touchstones of popular culture. If you had to pick just one, I’d recommend The Gray Man – it’s less relentlessly grim than Terminal List and its hero faces off against significantly more compelling antagonists (which is important in a spy thriller!).
That’s all for now – ‘til next time, stay badass.
[1] Arguably Kurosawa’s best film. It’s my personal favorite, at least.
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